Energy and Clean Technology

Fuel Your Interest in Energy

The Bay Area and Berkeley Haas are valued resources for energy-related research and innovation. Students interested in an MBA for energy, cleantech, and renewables find curricular opportunities such as the hands-on MBA Cleantech to Market course, which crosses disciplinary boundaries, putting together students from business, engineering, biosciences, law, and public policy to tackle large challenges.

Below are some of the resources supporting Berkeley MBA students interested in energy and cleantech.

Sample Coursework for a Career in Energy

Energy and Environmental Markets

Examine the economic determinants of industry structure and evolution of competition; investigate strategies for entering new markets and competing in existing markets; and analyze the rationale for and effects of public policies in energy markets.

Energy and Infrastructure Project Finance

An in-depth look at the financial, legal, and regulatory issues associated with the development and financing of energy projects, with a particular focus on alternative energy projects.

Cleantech to Market

In Cleantech to Market (C2M), interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from across UC Berkeley work with scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to complete projects that will help accelerate the commercialization of new solar, biofuel, battery, and smart grid/energy management technologies.

ProfessorSeverin Borensteinserves as chair of the Petroleum Market Advisory Committee for the California Energy Commission and is the E.T. Grether Chair in Business Administration and Public Policy at Berkeley Haas. His research includes energy policy and climate change, airline competition, and oil and gasoline market pricing and competition.

Catherine Wolframis a professor and former faculty director of theEnergy Institute at Haas. She has published extensively on the economics of energy markets and studied the electricity industry around the world, analyzing the effects of environmental regulation, including climate change mitigation policies, on the energy sector. She teaches Design and Evaluation of Development Technology.

Lucas Davis is an associate professor and faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. His research focuses primarily on energy and environmental markets, and in particular, on electricity and natural gas regulation, pricing in competitive and non-competitive markets, and the economic and business impacts of environmental policy. He teaches Data & Decisions.

Beverly Alexanderis the founding director of theCleantech to Marketprogram and a former senior VP at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, in charge of the largest energy efficiency, solar, and demand response programs in the U.S. She has also worked as a consultant on clean energy solutions. She serves as an advisor to theBerkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative.

The Energy Institute at Haas brings together research and curricular programs on energy business, policy, and technology commercialization to bridge the gap between the frontiers of economic and scientific energy research and the marketplace. EI@Haas runs a highly active blog, exploring everything from cap-and-trade and innovation to energy poverty.

BERC also offers BERC Innovative Solutions (BIS)—a consulting program led by students from across UC Berkeley’s top graduate departments, providing experiential learning in addressing strategic energy and resource opportunities and challenges, including sustainable investing. Clients have included Siemens, Calpine, and Bloom Energy.

Students leverage the BERC experience and network, the Berkeley Haas Alumni Network, and the Career Management Group’s relationship manager and industry specialist for energy to pursue careers, with hirers including Tesla and PG&E.

Katie Pickrell

MBA 16

Chief of Staff
PG&E

“Energy touches on so many disciplines—technology, law, policy, business, economics—that being able to connect with students and take classes in other graduate schools is essential. UC Berkeley School of Law and Goldman School of Public Policy Professor Jennifer Granholm’s class on energy policy was terrific.”